Plumbing Jobs In North Carolina

According to the state legislation, anyone who wants to perform plumbing jobs in North Carolina must have a license. Therefore, individuals interested in landing one of the plumbing jobs in North Carolina must attain licensure to practice from the authority on the matter, namely the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkles Contractors. In addition, it is important to point out that before submitting the documents necessary for licensure, plumbers are mandated to send in a form of pre-approval in order to take the examination.

Licenses issued and plumbing jobs in North Carolina

Applicants that desire to become licensed plumbers must show proof to the State Board that they have completed 4000 hours of training on the job, under the supervision of a licensed contractor. While half of these hours can be used for providing maintenance services, the other half is to be spent performing installation, layout and design of plumbing systems. Having the 4000 hours completed, the candidate must then apply for either of the licenses issued by North Carolina:

Class I – that is a license allowing plumbers to apply for commercial jobs in North Carolina

Class II – a license for single family detached residential plumbing services

Details about the licensure examination

The non-refundable examination fee for both Class I and II license is $100 and the actual exam is an open book test. While many candidates think that this is easy, the truth is that the purpose of the open books exam for plumbing license in North Carolina is to teach applicants how to find the information they need, when they need it. Consequentially, plumbers from other states should not be envious, as the questions in the open book exam are not easy and their answers cannot be found on a certain page of the manuals, but rather throughout the entire handbook.

Plumbing jobs in North Carolina: license renewal

In North Carolina the plumbing license to practice must be renewed annually and all application forms must typically be sent before the third week of October. The good news is that the process is not very long, meaning that it usually takes from 3 to 5 business days to receive the license renewal in the mail. Typically, plumbers requesting license renewal need to show proof of providing plumbing services and the completion of at least 6 hours of continuing education per year. In the event that the license is not renewed for 3 years in a row, then the State Board will require a re-examination of the plumber.

Plumbing jobs in North Carolina perspective

The average salary of plumbers in North Carolina is around $46,000, which is about 4% less than the income earned by plumbers in other states. However, the perspective on this profession is quite high, even though the increasing demand is not exactly reflected in the annual income. In a nutshell, every community needs water and gas, and as the installations are getting old, there is a need for regular maintenance and repairs.